Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Austria, Permanent Representative to the OSCE and other international organizations in Vienna, Sherzod Asadov met with the OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger.
The results of the visit of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic Miroslav Lajčák to Tashkent on May 19-20, 2019, as well as current issues related to the organization’s activities and prospects for expanding the current level of cooperation were discussed at the meeting.
Thomas Greminger highly appreciated the efforts of Uzbekistan to increase interaction with the OSCE and emphasized the interest of the organization in further strengthening the dialogue.
The Secretary General welcomed the specific actions of the Uzbek side on ensuring human rights, freedom of speech and the right to receive information, increasing the responsibility of state bodies, strengthening social policy and democratic institutions, and liberalizing the economy.
In this context, the recent restoration in Uzbekistan of full access to a number of websites of foreign news agencies and human rights organizations was highlighted.
Effective implementation of the Action Strategy initiated by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on five priority areas of the country’s development for 2017-2021, the main objectives of which fully correspond to the objectives and the current agenda of the OSCE was noted.
According to Uzbekistan MFA, following the meeting, an agreement was reached on implementation of a number of additional joint activities and projects aimed at supporting large-scale reforms implemented in Uzbekistan.